Rice bran lectins, named as RBA1 and RBA2, were isolated from Oryza sativa in two chromatography steps: affinity chromatography and cation-exchange chromatography. RBA1 was found to be composed of a covalently linked heterodimer of 20- and 12-kDa subunits, and RBA2 was a noncovalently linked dimer of 12-kDa subunits. Both RBA1 and RBA2 bound to desialylated complex glycoproteins such as fetuin,...

Anti-Bra was first identified in four cases of neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT). The antigen Bra is localized on the glycoprotein Ia/IIa complex of platelets. Anti-Bra can best be detected by a glycoprotein-specific immunoassay using monoclonal antibodies for antigen immobilization (MAIPA assay) and radioimmunoprecipitation (RIP). Recently, we have identified sera from two polytransf...

The interaction between a surface protein antigen (PAc) of Streptococcus mutans and human salivary agglutinin was analyzed with a surface plasmon resonance biosensor. The major component sugars of the salivary agglutinin were galactose, fucose, mannose, N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylgalactosamine, and N-acetylneuraminic acid. Binding of salivary agglutinin to PAc was calcium dependent and heat l...

The Golgi complex has been implicated as a possible component of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) glycoprotein quality control, although the elucidation of its exact role is lacking. ERManI, a putative ER resident mannosidase, plays a rate-limiting role in generating a signal that targets misfolded N-linked glycoproteins for ER-associated degradation (ERAD). Herein we demonstrate that the endogenous ...

The aim of this study was to examine the peptide transport activity of a naturally occurring P-glycoprotein such as that present in rat liver canalicular membrane vesicles. The peptide ionophores valinomycin and gramicidin D, which are known substrates of P-glycoprotein, served to monitor the P-glycoprotein activity indirectly as the ATP-dependent uptake of 86Rb+ mediated by these ionophores. C...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) encodes two glycoproteins, E1 and E2, which assemble in oligomeric structures. Studies of HCV glycoprotein assembly using heterologous expression systems have shown that these glycoproteins can follow two pathways: a productive pathway leading to the formation of a non-covalent heterodimer; and a non-productive pathway leading to the formation of large disulfide-linked a...

Arenaviruses comprise a diverse family of rodent-borne viruses that are responsible for recurring and emerging outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fevers worldwide. The Junín virus, a member of the New World arenaviruses, is endemic to the pampas grasslands of Argentina and is the etiologic agent of Argentine hemorrhagic fever. In this study, we have analyzed the assembly and function of the Junín v...

Background: Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is a common problem among couples, and acquired thrombophilia is the well-known etiology of RPL. The aim of this study was to establish the association between inherited thrombophilic gene polymorphisms and RPL. Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 50 women with unexplained RPL and 50 parous women with no history of miscarriage (age range...

introduction: glycoprotein b (gb) is the major antigen for induction of humoral responses against human cytomegalovirus (hcmv) making it an attractive candidate for immune prophylaxis. in the present study, the humoral immune response of balb/c mice to a truncated hcmv gb protein fused with gfp was evaluated. methods: the truncated gb coding sequence was synthesized and cloned in pegfpn1 eukary...